Global Voices Online

Latvia

Add live 'Latvia' headlines to your site

Stories

August 12th, 2008

Georgia, Russia: Tbilisi Reports

Veronica Khokhlova · 00:05

lingua → jp · bn · it · es

Three bloggers who are currently in Tbilisi describe what life there has been like in the past few days. According to LJ user oleg_panfilov, everything is quiet in the Georgian capital this night, while tomorrow "there'll be plenty of politics," because presidents of Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland and Ukraine are expected to descend on the city. 37 comments · »»

August 5th, 2008

Latvia: Failed Referendum

Elia Varela Serra · 06:08

lingua → fr · es

On the 2nd of August a referendum took place in Latvia, to vote on amendments to the Constitution that would make it possible for the people to initiate the dissolution of the Parliament. In spite of popular support for the process, the referendum had to be declared invalid due to a low turnout. Bloggers reacted to the disappointing results. 4 comments · »»

July 27th, 2008

Latvia: European Court Goes Against Riga

Vilhelm Konnander · 05:09

lingua → bn

Who has the right to pass judgment on what a man does in the service of his country during wartime and what should the legal grounds for such a verdict be? These are some of the key issues surrounding a legal process on WWII war crimes against a soviet veteran, Vasily Kononov, that has been dragged through the Latvian legal system since 1998. However, earlier this week, the European Court of Human Rights found that Latvia lacked legal grounds for prosecuting Kononov. Following the verdict, the Russian blogosphere has generally reacted with joy and relief, although there have also been some opposing voices. 6 comments · »»

February 14th, 2007

Latvia: “Halves”

Veronica Khokhlova · 17:31

Peteris Cedrins, a Latvia-based blogger who took this picture of a house in Daugavpils, writes: One house, two worlds. Many of the older houses in Daugavpils are being transmogrified by cheap plastic windows, poor cores wrapped in the dull facades of a poor and tasteless modernity. Daugavpils is the second-largest Latvian city, ... 2 comments · »»

September 20th, 2006

Eastern Europe: Video documents homophobia on the rise

Sameer Padania · 12:30

lingua → zht · zhs

The latest twist in the long-running saga of anti-gay violence and state oppression took place yesterday in Moscow, as an appeals court upheld the earlier lower court ruling to ban Moscow's Gay Pride March in May 2006. The gay rights activists who brought the case will now attempt to ... 1 comment · »»

August 29th, 2006

Russian-Language Blogs: Miscellanea (3)

Veronica Khokhlova · 15:59

Israeli blogger pilka writes (RUS) about a surreal experience of eating next to three clowns at a hospital in the wartime Haifa: [...] I had breakfast with clowns today. I work at the children's department, okay? So strange, a clown on the right, a clown on the left, a vegetable salad ... 1 comment · »»

August 19th, 2006

Former Soviet Union: 15 Years Since the August Coup

Veronica Khokhlova · 08:40

lingua → es

Today is 15 years since the beginning of the events that some people consider (RUS) Russia's Orange Revolution - but which are better known as the August Putsch. This year, on August 20 and 21, memorial services will be held in Moscow for Dmitry Komar, Ilya Krichevsky and Vladimir Usov, ... 2 comments · »»

Links about Latvia

August 21st, 2008

Three photos of Soviet-time murals in Latvia - at Arnis Balcus' Photo Blog.

August 17th, 2008

Pēteris Cedriņš of Marginalia writes about the sympathy of the Baltic states in general and of Latvia in particular towards Georgia.

August 15th, 2008

Baltic comments on the development of the Russo-Georgian war from the perspectives of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

Marginalia sums up various aspects of Latvia's support to Tbilisi in the wake of the Russo-Georgian war.

August 11th, 2008

Osteuropablog [German] comments on reports about the presidents of Poland, Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania seek to make a common trip to Georgia to try to mediate in the Russian-Georgian conflict.

Osteuropablog [German] reports that Russian Deputy Foreign Minister described the appeal for peace in South Ossetia by leaders of Poland, Estonia, Latva, and Lithuania as cynical.

August 9th, 2008

A Step At A Time reposted a joint statements by the leaders of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland condemning Russia's aggression against Georgia, in which they also call the Western position a “litmus-test for the credibility of the EU and NATO”. Moreover, they question the future of the EU strategic partnership with Russia.

August 6th, 2008

Baltic comments on the continued political drama in Latvia, as the country's President today scolded parliamentarians after the failed referendum to give people the right to declare non-confidence in the Parliament - the Saeima.